On Talagrand's functional and generic chaining

In the study of the supremum of stochastic processes, Talagrand's chaining functionals and his generic chaining method are heavily related to the distribution of stochastic processes. In the present paper, we construct Talagrand's type functionals in the general distribution case and obtain the upper bound for the suprema of all $p$-th moments of the stochastic process using the generic chaining method. As applications, we obtained the Johnson-Lindenstrauss lemma, the upper bound for the supremum of all $p$-th moment of order 2 Gaussian chaos, and convex signal recovery in our setting

Atomically homogeneous dispersed ZnO/N-doped nanoporous carbon composites with enhanced CO2 uptake capacities and high efficient organic pollutants removal from water

Author's manuscript version. The final published version is available from the publisher via doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2015.08.015Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Article first available online - 8th August 2015Advanced functional composite of ZnO nanoparticles embedded in N-doped nanoporous carbons has been synthesized by a simple one-step carbonization of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 under a water stream atmosphere. A variety of characterization techniques show that the introduction of water steam during the carbonization process holds the key to obtain the fine and homogeneously dispersed ZnO nanoparticles within the functionalised nanoporous carbon matrix. Possessing a higher specific surface area, a larger pore volume and abundant oxygen-containing hydrophilic functional groups, the resulting composite exhibits a stronger interaction with CO2 and is more efficient to promote the photocatalytic degradation-adsorption of methylene blue under visible light than the composite obtained without steam treatment. As a result, the steam derived composite exhibits increased CO2 uptake capacity and excellent methylene blue molecules removal from water. Using different metal-organic frameworks as precursors, this new, simple and green method can be further expanded to generate various new homogeneous dispersed functional metal oxide/porous carbon composites with high efficiency in relevant applications. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.Royal SocietyRoyal Academy of Engineerin

Fibroblast phenotypes in different lung diseases

BACKGROUND: The “seed and soil” hypothesis emphasizes the importance of interactions between tumor cells and their microenvironment. CAFs (Cancer associated fibroblasts) are important components of the tumor microenvironment. They were widely involved in cancer cells growth and metastasis. Fibroblasts may also play a role in inflammatory disease. The phenotype conversion of fibroblasts in lung diseases has not been investigated previously. We hypothesized that fibroblasts phenotypes may vary among different types of lung disease. METHODS: The study included six types of lung tissues, ranging from normal lung to lung adenocarcinoma with lymphatic metastasis. Para-carcinoma tissues which were 2-cm-away from the tumor focus were also included in the analysis. The expression of target proteins including alpha-SMA (smooth muscle actin), FAP (fibroblast activation protein), vimentin, E-cadherin, and CK-19 (cytokeratin-19) were examined by immunohistochemistry. TGF-beta(transforming growth factor) and Twist were detected simultaneously in all samples. RESULTS: A progressive increase in the levels of alpha-SMA, vimentin and CK-19 was observed in correlation to the degree of malignancy from normal lung tissue to lung adenocarcinoma with lymphatic metastasis, whereas E-cadherin expression showed the opposite trend. TGF-beta and Twist were detected in cancer tissues and inflammatory pseudotumors. None of the proteins were detected in para-carcinoma tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Fibroblast phenotypes varied according to the type and degree of lung malignancy and fibroblasts phenotypic conversion occurs as a gradual process with specific spatiotemporal characteristics. Similar fibroblast phenotypes in inflammatory diseases and cancer tissues suggested a correlation between inflammation and cancer and implied a common mechanism underlying the formation of fibroblasts in inflammatory diseases and lung cancer. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13019-014-0147-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Processing of ICARTT Data Files Using Fuzzy Matching and Parser Combinators

In this paper, the task of parsing and matching inconsistent, poorly formed text data through the use of parser combinators and fuzzy matching is discussed. An object-oriented implementation of the parser combinator technique is used to allow for a relatively simple interface for adapting base parsers. For matching tasks, a fuzzy matching algorithm with Levenshtein distance calculations is implemented to match string pair, which are otherwise difficult to match due to the aforementioned irregularities and errors in one or both pair members. Used in concert, the two techniques allow parsing and matching operations to be performed which had previously only been done manually

LICK INDICES and SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTION ANALYSIS BASED on AN M31 STAR CLUSTER SAMPLE: COMPARISONS of METHODS and MODELS

Application of fitting techniques to obtain physical parameters—such as ages, metallicities, and α-element to iron ratios—of stellar populations is an important approach to understanding the nature of both galaxies and globular clusters (GCs). In fact, fitting methods based on different underlying models may yield different results and with varying precision. In this paper, we have selected 22 confirmed M31 GCs for which we do not have access to previously known spectroscopic metallicities. Most are located at approximately one degree (in projection) from the galactic center. We performed spectroscopic observations with the 6.5 m MMT telescope, equipped with its Red Channel Spectrograph. Lick/IDS absorption-line indices, radial velocities, ages, and metallicities were derived based on the EZ_Ages stellar population parameter calculator. We also applied full spectral fitting with the ULySS code to constrain the parameters of our sample star clusters. In addition, we performed ${\chi }_{\min }^{2}$ fitting of the clusters' Lick/IDS indices with different models, including the Bruzual & Charlot models (adopting Chabrier or Salpeter stellar initial mass functions and 1994 or 2000 Padova stellar evolutionary tracks), the galev, and the Thomas et al. models. For comparison, we collected their UVBRIJK photometry from the Revised Bologna Catalogue (v.5) to obtain and fit the GCs' spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Finally, we performed fits using a combination of Lick/IDS indices and SEDs. The latter results are more reliable and the associated error bars become significantly smaller than those resulting from either our Lick/IDS indices-only or our SED-only fits

An Overview of the Challenges With and Proposed Solutions for the Ingest and Distribution Processes for Airborne Data Management

The current data management practices for NASA airborne field projects have successfully served science team data needs over the past 30 years to achieve project science objectives, however, users have discovered a number of issues in terms of data reporting and format. The ICARTT format, a NASA standard since 2010, is currently the most popular among the airborne measurement community. Although easy for humans to use, the format standard is not sufficiently rigorous to be machine-readable. This makes data use and management tedious and resource intensive, and also create problems in Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) data ingest procedures and distribution. Further, most DAACs use metadata models that concentrate on satellite data observations, making them less prepared to deal with airborne data